Graeme Cremer, Sean Williams and Carl Mumba put up a brave show with the bat under serious pressure, but it was a case of so near yet so far for Zimbabwe in their 100th Test match as Sri Lanka managed to achieve a thrilling 225-run victory with 45 balls to spare in the final session of the first Test at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday (November 2).Captain Cremer had a fantastic game - 102 not out and 43 with the bat in addition to a four-wicket haul in the first innings - but a brain fade from him at the fag end of the Test match arguably turned out to be the difference between a nail-biting draw and a heart-breaking defeat.The 30-year-old was involved in frustrating partnerships with Sean Williams (118-ball 39) and Carl Mumba (115-ball 38) for the seventh and ninth wickets respectively, but chose to step out to Herath with just overs 11 overs left in the day and be stumped after missing an almighty swipe.Earlier in the day, Rangana Herath and Co. made an overnight declaration after rain washed off the final session on Day 4, meaning Zimbabwe were set a target of 412. Things looked very good for the hosts when Tino Mawoyo and Brian Chari saw off most of the first hour, despite Suranga Lakmal and skipper Herath bowling a total of 16 overs up front, in what was a disciplined bowling partnership.However, a smart bowling change - debutant Lahiru Kumara replaced Lakmal after an eight-over spell - broke the opening partnership with his fourth delivery of the day when a nip-backer took Chari's off stump out of the ground.Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza were on the look out for a good second-wicket partnership similar to the first innings, but a shocker from umpire Simon Fry sent back the former when Dilruwan Perera put out a loud shout for LBW. The ball was easily slipping past the leg stick, hence making it an unlucky dismissal for a set Mawoyo. This triggered a massive collapse.In his next over, Perera trapped Sean Ervine right in front with an excellent ball that spun past the bat from round the wicket. Suranga Lakmal, returning to the attack after a good opening burst, threatened to dismiss Masakadza LBW once, before eventually forcing umpire Ian Gould to raise the finger with a lovely inswinger that thudded into the pad adjacent to the stumps in his next over.Lakmal had a spring in his step by then and in the same over, removed Malcolm Waller for a silver duck with one that kept slightly low. Sean Williams and Peter Moor then saw off one more over, before the umpires called lunch and the last few chaotic moments before lunch - four wickets fell in a space of 22 balls - raised hopes of a Sri Lankan victory.They made their case stronger by dismissing Moor a short while after the break - once again it was a dodgy umpiring call as Hawk-Eye showed that the ball was bouncing over the top of leg stump - but Sean Williams and Graeme Cremer negotiated 114 balls and ensured that no further damage was done and forced the game into the final session.Once again the break did the trick for the visitors as Williams edged Herath in the first over after tea and was nestled by an alert Dhananjaya de Silva at slip after the ball deviated off the keeper's gloves. It was a well-earned first wicket for Herath, for he toiled hard since opening the bowling. It appeared as if Herath was going to run through when he dismissed Donald Tiripano LBW soon after, but debutant Carl Mumba - 100th player to represent Zimbabwe in Tests - was willing to fight alongside Cremer.Cremer was more than happy to trust Mumba, for he had a pretty good defensive technique. Slowly but steadily, the duo fought out 100 balls and increased the tension in both camps. However, with about 70 balls left in the game, Cremer attempted a needless swing across the line against Herath and missed the ball completely to be out stumped by a long way. This ended a gritty 115-ball partnership which threatened to deny the visitors the game.Minutes later, Sri Lanka clinched the game as Perera castled Christopher Mpofu with 7.3 overs left in the day and took a 1-0 lead in the 2-match Test series.All of the four Sri Lankan bowlers seized key moments and showed character to remain disciplined when the going was tough, which was explained clearly by Herath when he responded saying "Not at all," after being asked if he was getting anxious when Zimbabwe were fighting hard. Pacers Lakmal and Kumara made use of the abrasiveness of the fifth day pitch and got the ball to reverse under 40 overs.One can say that Zimbabwe could have easily drawn the game had the batsmen applied better and a couple of decision had not gone against them. "To take it to all five days and to have it that close is good for Test cricket and we have a lot of positives to take out from this game," skipper Cremer would react after the loss.In the end, failure to hold their nerve during two crucial phases - one at the stroke of lunch when they were reduced from 68 for 1 to 74 for 5 and then those two quick wickets after tea - hurt them badly.Sri Lanka though would be happy that the efforts of Kusal Perera, Upul Tharanga - both scored hundreds in the first innings - and Dimuth Karunaratne - this was the first time in his career that he recorded fifty-plus scores (56 and 110) in both innings of a Test did - not go in vain.Brief scores: Sri Lanka 537 (Tharanga 110*, Kusal Perera 110, Kaushal Silva 94; Graeme Cremer 4 for 142) and 247 for 6 decl. (Karunaratne 110, Dhananjaya de Silva 64; Carl Mumba 4 for 50) beat Zimbabwe 373 (Graeme Cremer 102*, Donald Tiripano 46, Tino Mawoyo 45; Suranga Lakmal 3 for 69) and 186 (Cremer 43, Sean Williams 40, Tino Mawoyo 37; Dilruwan Perera 3 for 34, Rangana Herath 3 for 38) by 225 runs(Cricbuzz)
